When a winter is as long and frigid as this past season, finally being able to spend a lazy afternoon in the park is nirvana.

If you're hungry and celebrating the long-awaited thaw in downtown Saratoga Springs' Congress Park, drop by Park Side Eatery and grab a pulled-pork sandwich with a side of vinegar-based coleslaw. What better panacea from the freeze than sitting in the sun, sticky-sweet and slightly crisped crimson strips of slow-cooked meat stuffed between a fresh challah roll in your hands, a beef-and-tomato red sauce running down your fingers? The smaller portion is enough to suffice. That and an iced tea runs 10 bucks and change.

But Park Side Eatery isn't just a place to grab a bag of takeout to bring across Spring Street as you look for a patch of grass to roll out a blanket. As Saratogians have found since June, Park Side Eatery, with a massive array of slaws, house-smoked and cured meats, sides and fresh pastries, can fast become one of your favorite haunts anytime of the year.

I've heard Park Side Eatery referred to as a deli. That seems like an insufficient label for a place that cures two types of bacon — slab with hickory and jowl from pork cheeks — plus makes its own Old World-style brisket, serves swordfish skewers in grapefruit vinaigrette and has a full-time pastry chef.

More Information

Cuisine: Sandwiches, barbecue, pastries, huge array of deli-style and more contemporary sides and other entrees.

Style: Take-out or eat in.

Ambience: Colorful, wide-open, hip and friendly.

Price: $$

Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Closing time will be later in the summer.

Credit Cards: V, MC, AE, D

Parking: On-street and at nearby public lots, though on weekends it can still be tricky to find a spot.

Handicapped-accessible: Yes

If you know Black Diamond Caterers, you know this food: big, flavorful meats and unfussy sides, each prepared with nuances that make them special. Park Side Eatery is one of those places where your biggest problem will be whittling down what you and your friends want this time and what you'll to wait to have when you come again.

After running Black Diamond for 14 years, Heidi and Michael Hoyt have wanted to open their own place for a decade. Last year, they finally landed prime real estate just off Broadway in one of the city's busiest foot traffic spots, a short walk from Congress Park.

At Black Diamond, the Hoyts have been doing smoked, slow-cooked and cured meats for years. Heidi says they draw much of their influence from old Jewish preparations they love, which is no better illustrated than in how they prepare their corned beef and pastrami. While many places now get their beef half-prepared, the Hoyts bring theirs in raw. Rather than soaking it in a big vat of brine, they dry-cure it, then smoke it, then steam it, a process that takes two weeks.

They save chunks of corned beef that get carved but don't go in sandwiches for an excellent corned beef hash, fragrant with caramelized onions and succulent potatoes.

The hash is just one of dozens of hot and cold ready-to-serve dishes. Most of them change daily and aren't listed on the online and takeout menus.

Considering there are just four cooks plus Heidi on most days, it's stunning to think how much cooking goes on daily at Park Side Eatery to have all this ready at any given time.

On our visit there were six types of slaw — including an excellent broccoli, apple and cranberry slaw with briny chunks of jowl bacon — swordfish skewers, several grilled vegetables, even more potato, egg, fish and chicken salads, chopped liver, guacamole, bean puree frittatas, chicken halves, legs, thighs and St. Louis-style ribs. That covers about one third of what we had to choose from.

Unfortunately, by around 4 p.m. on a Saturday, they were out of their mac-and-cheese, which I was told by colleagues is a Parkside staple. A Moroccan chicken dish had just the right blend of smoke and heat from paprika and cumin cooked with onions to inject some sweetness, the olives mixed in providing a salty punch in a dish that touches just about every part of your palate.

Turkey chili — like the brisket, made from chunks of their own house-brined and -smoked bird that doesn't go into sandwiches — was outstanding with deep flavors and thick chunks of tomato, a reminder that chili doesn't always have to mean pulverized meat, beans and lots of spice.

The only miss on our visit was a side of Brussels sprouts with pears. The sprouts were overcooked, squishing with each bite as though they were thumb-sized chunks of applesauce. I'm assuming this was just from them holding in a hot table too long.

With housemade glazed fritters and doughnuts available, I opted for a homemade green tea marshmallow square ($2). You can tell from one bite it's made with real coconut puree.

The hot and cold sides and entrees both run $10 per half pound, which can seem like a deal for dishes like the Moroccan chicken but a bit too much for some of the sides. Lunch for three came to $45 after tax and tip.

There are myriad juices and sodas on a fridge that runs the length of one of Park Side Eatery's walls. Customers order at the counter and orders are then delivered on a tray to one of the booths, from which you can smell the park grass and feel the spring air.